Automatic

Science

IntelliWheels AGS Shifts The Wheelchair Into A Higher Gear

1:00AM July 25, 2011 | Jack Loftus

Scott Daigle, a graduate engineering student at the University of Illinois, looked at the wheelchair, then at the bicycle, and then back at the wheelchair and asked “Why not a gear system on a wheelchair?” Then he built one. More »


Automated Cradle Rocks Your Child Back to Sleep

12:30AM March 19, 2009 | Mark Wilson

You could wake up in the middle of the night for a short period of your life and tend to the spawn you insisted upon this world. Or, you could just buy an automated cradle.

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Plexidor is Automatic Star Trek-Like Door for Your Pets (and Only Yours)

6:31PM July 28, 2008 | Kit Eaton

Now, if this door makes the classic Pphssshshm Star Trek door noise when it opens and shuts, the manufacturers are onto a winner. It sounds like a neat solution for dogs and cats that like to roam: you pop a weatherproof RFID tag in their collar, and when they approach the Plexidor pet door it automatically slides up to let your pets in or out. Its safety mechanism means it won’t guillotine your pet if they dawdle, and it shuts automatically so you only get your animals in your home. It’s made of the same stuff as football helmets, so it should withstand some tough weather, and it’s available now for between US$130 and US$800, depending on features and size. [Electronic House]

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